I found this little gem on Businessweek’s website that really got me thinking:
Risa Wexler, Media Director/Team Leader of Pfizer, working mom, wrote:
I was racing around like a lunatic trying to get out of the house one morning saying, “I have to make the bus! I have to make the bus!” And my son said to me, “Mommy, what happens if you miss the bus?” I stopped dead in my tracks and said, “I take the next one. Show me what you wanted me to see.”
Sometimes, we lose track of the really important things in life. Sometimes, we forget that some things can be delayed. There are days when we can afford to forget about the pile of dishes in the sink for an hour or two… or work on that project paper later in the night when the kids are asleep… or shut down the computer for an entire weekend, just so we can spend time with the people who matter the most — our family.
Which is why, in my office, in a spot that I never miss, I’ve posted a huge printout of a quotation that serves as a constant reminder to me on my priorities in life: “You have a lifetime to work, but children are only young once.”
Tags: family, priorities
If you are pressed for time and long to see Paris within less than half a day (or two full days or somewhere in between) or are simply not keen on scuffing your shoes on Paris’ cobblestones and developing nasty foot blisters in the process, Les Cars Rouges is a very good option to take.
For €24 per adult and €12 per child, you get to ride around in a red double-decker bus and get on and off at any of its 9 designated stops, which are conveniently located at Paris’ major points of interest: Eiffel Tower, Champs de Mars, Musée de Louvre, Notre Dame, Musée d’Orsay, Opéra, Champs Elysées-Etoile (right in front of the Arc de Triomphe), Grand Palais, and Trocadero.
Tags: Cars Rouges, Paris, tour
I had a most wonderful surprise today. The moment I got home, there was a package waiting for me! All the way from Japan! :D
I eagerly tore up the package (so uncharacteristic of me), leaving just the return address intact, and was exhilarated to see the silicone muffin molds that Caryn of Sari-Saring Kulay (Tagalog for ‘A Multitude of Colours’) has mentioned in her blog just a few weeks ago. Talk about instant stress relief for me! ;)
Note that I wasn’t the only one excited about the package as my kids’ radars instantaneously sensed the presence of small packets of Japanese chocolates nestled inside the topmost muffin mold. There were 5 little boxes — one for each of my little ones. Caryn, oh Caryn, how thoughtful of you! Thank you so much!
There were also 2 packets of what looked like Pokemon gummies, which I safely stashed away in a drawer.
Needless to say, my kids finished off the chocolates faster than you can say ‘Domo arigato‘ (Twin2 enjoyed the coffee-flavoured Coffee Beat, saying it’s like his father’s coffee!) and begged for more. Looks like I’ll have to make a trip to Isetan this weekend to look for these yummy Meiji mini treats. I personally loved Choco Baby. Can you blame me for sampling each one of them? ;)
Looks like I’ll be whipping up muffins this weekend!
Once in a while, I get lucky enough to find a subject like this baby bird, perched precariously on a nest that it has almost outgrown.
The angle is a bit awkward because I didn’t have the time to go and look for a ladder — note that I took this photo on the morning of our flight to Geneva last April — but I’m very pleased with the overall sharpness, focus and quality of the photograph straight out of the camera.
By the time we got back from our whirlwind European vacation, the nest was already empty.
Tags: bird, nest, Photography
Lola and I took the TGV (Train de Grand Vitesse – train of great speed) from Geneva to Paris for our recent European adventure. I bought the tickets in advance from RailEurope’s agent in Malaysia, Boustead Travel, because I couldn’t buy the tickets online using my Philippine passport (or, I assume, any non-European passport for that matter). But if you are already in Switzerland, you can purchase your TGV tickets from the nearest Swiss Rail office.
We boarded the TGV at Geneva’s main train station, Cornavin. The trip was as pleasant and as smooth as any European train can get that it didn’t matter that we bought second-class tickets.
But the trip wasn’t without any surprises though.
The first surprise? No immigration or customs checks whatsoever. It felt weird walking past empty Douane counters.
The second surprise was the delay. Knowing how the Swiss are such sticklers when it comes to punctuality, I was really stunned that our train was actually late by a good 10 minutes. Then it dawned on me that the TGV is operated by the French SNCF. It’s a French train, not a Swiss train. <Hits hand on forehead> Duh!
The third not-so-pleasant surprise was the scenery. Or, to be more accurate, lack thereof. The French countryside was so blah and dull and nothing at all like the Swiss countryside. I had in mind the lush green meadows and snow-capped mountains and shimmering blue lakes that you’re bound to see when you take the train between Zurich and Geneva. And I was sorely disappointed to not have even seen a glimpse of the Alps. Oh well…at the rate the train was moving, getting decent pics was a serious challenge any way. See the blurry tree on the lower right hand side? That was because of the train’s speed; not camera shake for once.
See how dark and gloomy this photo is? That’s how exactly the French countryside looked that day, as though it was on the verge of raining all the time. The only reason why I kept this photo is because it looks like something out of an Impressionist’s painting.
Watch what happens when I work some Photoshop Elements magic into it. Lemme see… Enhance > Adjust Lighting > Fill Flash. Tweak it a bit further by increasing the saturation a bit. And then… Filter > Artistic > Paint Daubs. And voila! ‘Ere eez a painting of zee banks of zee river Seine by zee famous Dutch impressionist XYZ who lived in Paris in zee 18th century… ;) Just try to ignore the reflections on the glass window, which I didn’t have the time to edit out of the photo.
Okay, so the view was disappointing. At least the trains were clean and well-maintained, I tried to console myself. The loo was very clean too although it could have used a nice dose of eau de toilette. [Side note: I've always wondered why they call it 'toilet water'.]
Surprise number four? No one inspected our tickets. I felt rather silly spending my precious Euros for a one-way ticket when I could have easily boarded the train and gotten off without one. Of course, had there been a spot check and had I been found wanting of a ticket, it would have meant a heavy fine… Or jail… Or maybe both. <Shudder!> Okay, so I’m being a bit speculative here.
Finally, the last surprise wasn’t that much of a surprise. No immigration at the French side either. So my passport doesn’t bear any French stamp and I have no official proof that I have been to Paris. I do have 538 or so 834 photos of various places in Paris as proof that I have, indeed, been to the City of Lights. But they’re photos and can never take the place of an official stamp on my passport :(
My verdict on the TGV? It’s fast — in less than 3 hours, you’ll find yourself already in Paris’ Gare de Lyon station — and it’s much, much cheaper than taking the plane. So I say go right ahead and take the TGV as long as you don’t have too much luggage to lug along with you.
